Just Like the Ones I Used to Know
by Rhino7
Summary: WARNING: good tidings imminent.
1. No Dinky Tinker Toy

**Just Like the Ones I Used to Know**

**By Rhino7**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. I also don't own any of the songs mentioned in this. This little ditty is mine, as is Duke. So, this semester drank my river of creativity dry, and I've been nursing my remaining little brook back to full health. It's too early to tell if it'll make a full recovery, but I'm not giving up on it.**

**Meanwhile, gasp, did I actually write a Christmas ditty for Christmas? Wow. So for the past few holiday seasons, I've honestly tried to write a warm and fuzzy Christmas thing, but ended up with only angst. Le sigh. But Hark! I believe this time I have succeeded in writing something actually cheerful…in a silly, maybe cliché, alcoholic-Cid kind of way…Enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**Chapter One: No Dinky Tinker Toy**

Aerith thumbed through the dozens of vinyl records that lined the lower shelf of Merlin's bookshelf. The small house had been the headquarters for the Restoration Committee for the past three years. This was the third Christmas back home in Radiant Garden, and Aerith and Yuffie were determined to make a big deal about it.

Merlin had warmed up to the idea quickly, and soon the spark had taken hold into a flame that burned the house in reds, greens, golds, and garland. Cid had never been much of a holiday person, but they had convinced Tifa Lockhart to join them, and that girl mixed a mean drink, so Cid decided to stick around.

The mood was infectious too.

Chewing on his toothpick, Cid watched Aerith as she merrily picked out what he predicted to be the most cheerful and spirited album of the collection and slid it into the antique record player against the wall.

Merlin was standing in the middle of the room, levitating streams of lights and streamers up to the rafters and hanging them from the top of the walls and the ceiling. Little paper snowflakes were hanging from string all around the computer and the cabinets in the tiny kitchen. Aerith and Yuffie had worked on those all morning. Well, Aerith had worked on them painstakingly: cutting very intricate little designs into the paper flakes. Yuffie had quickly grown impatient and just started hacking at the folds with scissors until Leon banned her from that station for fear of her losing her fingers.

Yuffie had quickly rebounded, and was now enthusiastically decorating the large pine tree that Aerith had conned, threatened, and evil-eyed Leon into cutting down and dragging in for them. Speaking of, where had Mr. Christmas Spirit ran off to?

"Like a little egg nog with your alcohol?" Tifa interrupted his thoughts.

Cid glanced over at her, having forgotten the martial artist was there. She nearly blended into all the cut out snowflakes with her white jacket.

"Hm." He grunted, removing his toothpick just long enough to take a swig from the cup of whiskey-flavored drink. "I pick my own poison."

She smirked, shaking her head as she sipped at her own concoction. Cid gave the drink a suspiciously raised eyebrow and she shoved his shoulder.

"Shut up. It's milk." She defended.

"Yeah, sure, the new codename for hard rum." Cid chuckled, but didn't press her too hard. If anybody had reason to drink…

"_IIIIII want a hippopotamus for Christmas!"_ The record player sang. "_Only a hippopotamus will DO!"_

Cid and Tifa both looked sideways over to Aerith, who was grinning like a little girl as she put the records back on the shelf, joining Yuffie by the tree. Duke, the reddish golden retriever that Leon had more or less adopted a few months ago, padded in, tongue lolling at all the colors and excitement. Her bright red collar showed about all the festive imagination that Leon could muster for the season.

The song continued to roll on and Cid absently watched Merlin dance around as he enchanted the decorations to glide up onto the walls and shelves and every other surface of their own accord. They had gotten a merry little fire crackling in the hearth. The little house was as warm and cheery as it had been since…well, ever really.

Smelling Aerith's baking in the oven, Duke barked and followed the smell, knocking against the step stool that Yuffie was standing on to decorate the tree. Yuffie yelped in surprise, grabbing at the wall to steady herself. Aerith, standing on the floor to hang ornaments on the lower branches, looked up.

"You all right there, Yuffie?" She asked.

"Silly dog! She knows she can't have those cookies!" Yuffie brandished a fist.

"Oh, leave her alone, Yuffie." Tifa laughed. "Where's your Christmas spirit?"

"MY Christmas spirit?" Yuffie balked. "Leon's the one being a boob!"

Cid snorted into his drink and Aerith lifted a hand to her mouth, stifling the giggle. He set his glass aside and went to tug Duke away from the oven. The dog keened at him, weaving around his legs, eager for a treat.

"Ah, no jumping." He warned her off.

Merlin finished streaming lights and opened another box. "Ah, found the tinsel."

Yuffie's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Dibs on the tinsel!"

"Oh, Kingdom Hearts help us all." Cid ran a hand over his face.

Aerith stepped aside to let Yuffie at the box of shiny strings, opting for taking over the station on the step stool. Merlin began to levitate some of the ornaments onto the tree too.

"Okay, what does everybody want to drink?" Tifa asked, looking restless from not helping.

Merlin glanced over, "I got rid of all the alcohol."

"That's what you think." Cid muttered

"The holidays are no time for hard drinks." Merlin tutted.

"The holidays are the prime time for hard drinks." Cid chuckled.

Aerith cast him a look. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

Cid lifted his shoulders, "Makes it a lot more fun, at least."

Tifa snickered, stirring some actual egg nog. "I've never seen the house so decked out. It looks really nice, guys."

"Thank you, dear." Merlin beamed.

"Yeah, first real Christmas back home!" Yuffie chirped.

Cid saw Tifa's puzzled expression. "First one back was kinda lost in the mess of restoring Hollow—Radiant Garden." He held up one finger. "Second one…well, you remember that quarantine situation." He held up a second finger.

Tifa's cheeks went slightly pink. "Oh, yeah, I remember that."

"So, that makes this," He held up a third finger, "The first real Christmas that these guys have gotten to celebrate."

"Hey, I thought our Christmas last year was pretty cool!" Yuffie snapped.

"Leon, Tifa, and Cloud were stuck in here for almost ten hours." Cid pointed out.

Yuffie balked, "Well…I meant AFTER that, silly!" She put her hands on her hips, tinsel dangling from her shoulder.

"Right, right." Cid waved her off, glancing at the window.

It had been snowing most of the day, layering a health blanket of white across Radiant Garden. After bringing in a tree to appease Aerith and Yuffie, Leon had retreated somewhere, probably to just be all…Leon…and avoid happy things. Cid drank from his 'egg nog' again, watching the quarter-sized flakes drift down and gather on the sills.

Aerith was singing with the record now. "I can see me now on Christmas morning, creeping down the stairs…"

Duke's ears perked at the new noise and Yuffie looked at the dog. Cid recognized that mischievous look in her eyes.

"You know what would be ADORABLE?" She snapped her fingers.

Merlin adjusted his spectacles, "An enchanted angel on the tree that dances?"

"What? No!" Yuffie waved her arms, "I was thinking antlers on Duke!"

Cid groaned, "Why would you think that was a good idea?"

"I can see it!" Yuffie made a frame with her fingers, putting the dog in her crosshairs. "And some tinsel to make her…dazzle!" She gave a mini-jazz hands gesture.

Even Merlin looked a little bewildered at that thought.

"It'll be cute, just you wait!" Yuffie knelt down, a fistful of tinsel in one hand, reaching toward the golden retriever with her other hand. "Here, girl." She whistled.

Duke looked at her, tilted her head, and eyed the silvery mass in the ninja girl's hand.

"Run, pooch. Run while you can." Tifa urged with a grin.

"_No crocodiles! No rhinosceroses! I only like hippopotamuses!"_ The record played on.

Yuffie lunged for the dog. Duke barked and ducked out of the way, bumping into Merlin, who had been in the middle of casting a spell. Off balanced, the spell ricocheted off the wall and hit the front door, causing it to spring open.

"Make a break for it from the tinsel terror!" Aerith laughed.

Cid watched as the dog immediately bolted for the door like there was a cat on the other side of it. He grinned as Yuffie made a mad dash after Duke, throwing the tinsel at her in a desperate attempt to decorate the canine.

As the door swung open and Duke sprinted through, Cid spotted Leon leaning against the outside wall. The other man looked only mildly surprised at the tinsel-draped dog as she bolted out into the snow, nearly disappearing in a drift.

Yuffie clenched her fists as though to chase after her, but Aerith called her over to help hang the rest of the decorations. She begrudgingly went to help, and was easily distracted by hanging the little baubles from the branches.

Cid and Leon exchanged a raised eyebrow look, and then Leon subtly reached over, closing the door again. Behind Cid, Tifa snorted and mixed another drink.

"I'll go corral the canine." She remarked, taking the drink with her.

"Oh! Oh, Cid, could you get the oven for me." Aerith called, standing on the step stool. "They might be burning."

"Sure." Cid waited until Tifa closed the door after herself before opening the oven door.

No billowing smoke cloud or immediately screaming smoke alarms…that was a good sign. Pulling the cookie tray out of the oven, he set the sheet on the stove top and closed the oven, spying Aerith's creations. Tree and star shaped cookies, surprisingly detailed.

Now that he was inside the kitchen, he peeked under the counter to the drawer where Tifa had been mixing drinks. Vodka, rum, martini mix, whiskey, and bourbon. Ooh, she had been holding out on them all. Ah, he didn't need a drink THAT badly though…Probably a smoke in a while, but not right—

Yuffie had emptied half the box of tinsel on the tree, and the other half on Aerith, who was pulling the stuff off herself and throwing it back at Yuffie.

Then again, a smoke right now might not be uncalled for.

"Aren't you going to help?" Merlin finally nagged him. "You've been a regular Scrooge over there sulking in your egg nog."

"Hey, I gotta duck selling ice cream in the Marketplace that would take offense to that." Cid commented. "As it is…I'm supervising you all. How's that for doing something?"

"Excuses." Merlin rolled his eyes, opening more boxes.

" 'Sides." Cid said, "Looks like you all have it pretty well covered."

The record had gone quiet, and as soon as Aerith noticed this, she reset it so that it played that song again. Must have sparked her fancy there. Cid had to chuckle at that. Without Aerith's persistent, and sometimes frightening, enthusiasm, this old house would look like a shack…a man shack, with no color and no warmth. And without Yuffie…Well, there would probably les holes in the wall and less gray hair on Cid's head.

Tifa had been outside for a while. Probably enjoying the quiet out there with Leon. Huh, 'enjoying' and 'Leon' in the same sentence, an odd combo. Cid had noticed that they had become more friends than the occasional 'hey, you' that they had been before the little incident last year. Misery and company and all that, probably.

Speaking of…

"Going for a smoke." He announced, grabbing his pack from the counter and shuffling over to the door.

"Drag Tifa and Leon back in here when you're done!" Aerith called.

"And Duke!" Yuffie waved a fist. "I wasn't done with her yet!"

"Yeah, yeah." Cid said, opening the door and stepping outside.

One thing he'd forgotten since the last snow in Radiant Garden…Snow equaled cold.

"Hot damn." He wheezed, closing the door and hunching his shoulders in his coat.

"Odd choice of words." Leon remarked, leaning against the wall by the door.

Standing beside him with her mug of 'milk', Tifa chuckled. "Finally threw in the towel, eh?"

Cid snorted, tugging out a cigarette and sliding it between his teeth, patting his pockets for his lighter. "Yeah, you're no better." He retorted, then looked to Leon, "And you're the worst."

Leon wasn't looking at him; he was watching Duke. The dog was strewn with tinsel and bounding from snow dune to snow dune, barking as she kicked up the white powder. "How do you figure?" He asked flatly.

"Dude," Cid looked him up and down, "You look like Jack Frost with dandruff."

Leon rolled his eyes and briefly attempted to bat the snow from his hair, gave up, and went back to watching the dog. "Then what are you? Ghost of Christmas Lung Cancer?"

Cid looked up from the cigarette he was lighting. "Smart ass." He remarked, puffing lightly on the stick. "Seriously, you anti-Christmas this year or what?"

"Not anti-Christmas." Leon shrugged, "Just thinking, that's all."

Tifa tsked, shaking her head. "Dangerous habit."

Leon remained deadpan and the three of them fell quiet, watching the dog romp through the snow, leaving sets of pawprints in the white quilt. Cid inhaled from his cigarette, exhaling a wisp of dark smoke to mingle with the falling white snow.

Tifa was relatively new to the Restoration Committee. Hell, she'd only actually been running missions for them for the past few months. It was nice to have another set of hands on board. Definitely helped that the woman could punch through a solid brick wall. Definitely a little scary too.

Aerith certainly was happy to have her around. Even ribbed her good naturedly in that Aerith-way about how much time Tifa was hanging out with Leon. Cid could tell Tifa wasn't completely comfortable around Aerith, even without the playful teasing, and he couldn't put his finger on why. Might have had something to do with Blondie.

Glancing about the little square outside Merlin's house, Cid wondered briefly if Cloud was even aware of how much both the women here missed him. Why they did, he couldn't fathom. The kid was a bucket of angst and a bottle of hair gel away from a breakdown. Well, he wasn't much to judge, and Leon wasn't exactly a posterboy for stability, but at least they weren't running off after phantoms all the time.

Bah, enough of that nonsense. Train of thought wasn't helping nobody.

A little army of snowflakes had staked claim on his shoulders and in his hair by this point, and his nose and ears were starting to tingle with the cold. Tifa's jacket looked too thin to handle this kind of snow, and Leon was so warm natured that Cid bet he could stand out here in just boots and not complain.

He grimaced at THAT mental image and puffed on his cigarette again, glancing over at the two. Neither saying anything or making chatter, just watching a dog play in the snow. Oddly amusing. Leon might be a certifiable Scrooge, but Duke seemed to be loosening him up, if just a little. Tifa was harder to gauge, since he hadn't known her as long.

As if on cue, Tifa set her drink on the window sill and wandered over to Duke, ruffling the fur around her shoulders and dislodging snow and tinsel along the way.

"Aerith made cookies." Cid said.

He was comfortable with silence, craved it sometimes even, but Leon Silence was slightly awkward after a while.

The other man grunted as Duke jumped on Tifa, tackling her to the snow, where she temporarily disappeared. Tifa rolled and suddenly sprang up to her feet, arm reeled back, swinging her leg forward.

Cid stood there, watching her, thinking 'what is she doin—'

Then the little ball of snow was flung from her perfectly-executed pitching stance. The ball soared through the air and with a _splat_, nailed Leon squarely in the chest. Cid snorted at Leon's lax expression, looking down at the snow and back at Tifa, who did a little fist pump.

"Gotcha!" She chirped.

Duke barked, as though she shared in the victory.

"You gonna let her get away with that?" Cid said quietly, exhaling more smoke.

Leon sighed.

"Some reflexes." Tifa was trash talking, hands on her hips, "Give you some Heartless to slash apart, and you're like a lion on the prowl, but throw some snow in there and you turn into a—"

She immediately ducked and stepped to the side like a dancer as a ball of snow sailed across the air where she had been just seconds earlier. Cid was surprised Leon had actually retaliated with a thrown snowball.

"Ha!" Tifa pointed, "Bad reflexes, and bad aim—"

A second snowball splattered across her face, taking her by surprise.

Cid had almost forgotten: Leon wasn't technically ambidextrous, but he could throw well enough with both arms. He also looked very pleased with himself for hitting her: almost a whole half a grin.

Tifa recovered quickly, Duke barking beside her, and began to put together another snowball.

Oh, this was going to escalate quickly. They were both too competitive for this to end well. Cid put out his cigarette and made to light another.

"Count me out of this." He said.

Leon snorted, "Relax. I was just trying to prove a point—"

A snowball the size of a soccer ball nailed him in the side of the head hard enough to make him smack into the wall. Cid's eyebrows went up together at the sight of the younger swordsman staggering away from the wall, half of his face caked in snowy powder.

Spitting out a mouthful of it, Leon glared over at Tifa, who was sniggering as she put together Snowball of Doom. He looked incredulously to Cid, as if to say: Did you see what she did to me? He looked so indignant that Cid let out a full throated laugh, plucking the cigarette from his mouth.

"I like her." He tutted as Duke bounded over to Leon, shaking snow from her fur and weaving around his legs, eager for petting.

Leon looked distracted by revenge, however.

"I'll let you kids at it." Cid said, grasping the knob of the door. "Just don't track that stuff all over the house when you're done."

With that, he went back inside, back to the warmth and the fireplace and the tree and the record music and the smell of fresh cookies and alcoholic egg nog.

Merry Christmas to all, he grinned as he heard snowball carnage unleashing itself behind him. And welcome home, Restoration Committee.

"_And hippopotamuses like me toooo!"_

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N 1: **The 'quarantine' and 'incident' mentioned briefly are from last year's attempt at a Christmas fic called _Dante's Tenth Circle_, and it's every bit as charming as it sounds.

**A/N 2:** I'd like to write a second chapter for this, a romantic oneshot, maybe connected, maybe not connected, to this chapter. I'm open to pairings. Leaning toward Leon/Tifa, but I'm open to writing anybody else. Preferably Restoration Committee-related. Let me know in a review!

Merry Christmas, everybody!


	2. Take a Cup of Kindness Yet

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. I also don't own any of the songs used. This ficlet is mine, as are Duke and the bartender. Gah, dissatisfaction. I wrote this thing nearly four times and I'm still not happy with it. I very much wanted to write LeonxTifa and CloudxAerith (which were both mentioned in reviews), but it just came out hokey every time I tried.**

**So I shifted focus. Those pairings are still in there, I promise! They're just not the main focus like I originally intended. Ah well. I guess I'm sort of satisfied with how this turned out. It just wasn't what I was going for…the muse had its way with me yet again.**

**Merry Christmas anyway and please enjoy!**

**..:-X-:..**

**Chapter Two: Take a Cup of Kindness Yet**

The snowy blanket that had drifted down over Radiant Garden was a full quilt by late evening. Temperatures dropped as the snow levels rose, frosting the windows of Merlin's small cottage house. Flakes the size of cashews were falling.

The party had been much larger than expected. After Duke got out, running rampant around Radiant Garden, she had accumulated a gathering of children who found the dog endlessly entertaining. The kids had followed the dog back to Merlin's, and the parents had followed the kids. So they all ended up back at the little house where the Restoration Committee was making the most of the holiday season.

When the storm started getting bad, Merlin used his magic to melt snow away from paths so that parents could take their children home. When it got worse, Cid sent Leon and Cloud out to salt the whole town to prepare for the morning freeze.

Most of the partiers had long gone home, now that it was the wee hours of the morning. The house was littered with streamers, mugs of coffee and egg nog and plates of half eaten cookies. Yuffie was splayed across the couch, asleep from the sugar crash. Duke was pawing and jumping at one of Merlin's enchanted chairs.

"Brr, it looks like it's getting cold out there." Aerith said, standing by the window and watching the snow fall with her arms hugging herself.

"Yeah." Cid sniggered, sitting at the kitchen table. "S'posed to get even worse the later it gets."

Aerith huffed at him and returned to the kitchen area. "If you had gone with them, you'd all be done and back in the warm by now."

"I did my share o'that when I was their age. They can handle it." Cid waved them off.

"Spoken like a true old timer." Tifa chirped from the sink, where she had started washing dishes as Merlin magicked them across the room with his wand.

"Ahhh." Cid growled. "Get off my back."

**..:-X-:..**

_Ten years earlier…_

"_What do you drink, old timer?"_

_Cid groaned, the hand over his forehead rubbing at his eyes. "How old do I look?"_

_The curvaceous bartender's ruby red lips parted in a smile, revealing a small gap between her front teeth. "Twenty-something going on fifty-something."_

_Cid grunted, "Close enough." He glanced to the bottles on display behind her. "Gimme a shot of the good stuff."_

"_And a holly, jolly Christmas to you too." She tutted, swinging her hips a little more than was necessary as she went to fetch a bottle._

_He glanced around the tavern while she poured the drink. A handful of holiday spirits were hunched over their liquid spirits, amidst the haze of cigar smoke and soft seasonal music. Considering this was the only bar open in Traverse Town on Christmas Eve, he had expected a larger, gloomier crowd._

_Maybe it was just him._

"_Three months." The bartender set a shot in front of him._

_Cid took the shot and downed it without looking at her. The fire of the whiskey burned down his throat. He let out a satisfied exhale and set the glass down. "What?"_

_She propped one elbow on the bar counter, tawny brown curls swishing as she tilted her head. "Since the Heartless made Traverse Town home for you."_

_He chuckled ruefully and gestured for another shot. "Four. What gave me away?"_

"_Why else would you spend Christmas in this place?" Her smile wasn't pitying, rather empathetic. "I know a fellow orphan when I see one." She poured him another shot._

_He picked it up, but didn't drink it immediately. "You?"_

"_Seven months ago." She bobbed her head once, slowly, and then leaned in just an inch or so. "But nobody comes here to swap war stories."_

"_Or do they?" He looked at her._

_She narrowed one eye at him. "You got any kids?" A quick flick of her eyes at his hand did a glance for a wedding ring._

_Cid sighed and downed the second shot, "Three."_

**..:-X-:..**

Leon had been halfway out the door anyway. Cid figured he was eager for an escape from Yuffie, who had been trying to stick one of those antler-headbands on him. Cloud hadn't put up much of a fight either. By the looks of things, Aerith had spent the better part of the morning threatening, conning, and waving a frying pan at him to get him to come to the party.

Cid couldn't really blame him. Duke had taken a dislike to the blond; her hackles rose every time he so much as looked at her. It was the first time he had ever seen the dog show dislike toward anyway. He found it amusing, and even though Tifa covered her grin quick enough, so did she.

"I'm just glad it's not me out there." Tifa remarked, drying a mug with a towel.

"Dear, you really don't have to do that." Merlin said, "I can have this all washed up with a flick of the wrist."

Tifa waved a hand, "No, no, I haven't done nearly as much for this party as you and Aerith have. I insist."

"Yeah, use a little elbow grease instead of any mamby pamby magic." Cid said, saying the last bit in an airy voice.

Merlin balked, hunching his shoulders as he glared, "Are you insinuating that my magic is not as good as your…'elbow grease'?"

"Nah, I ain't 'insinuatin'. I'm TELLIN' ya!" Cid slapped his palm to the table.

"Why you ignorant—" Merlin retorted.

Cid tuned him out. They could argue for hours and he'd never give an inch. There was no way that waving a little stick around was a better way to do anything than by one's own sweat and muscle. Unfortunately, the old windbag sorcerer believed just the opposite.

Before the geezer could really get rolling though, the door swung open, letting in a gust of wind, a blast of snow, and two white-dusted men with shovels. Duke barked at the intrusion and Yuffie grunted, rolling over on the couch.

"Whew! We were starting to get worried!" Aerith held up her hands.

"Speak for yourself." Tifa remarked, "Close the door! It's freezing out there!"

One of the literal 'snow men' shook his head enough to dislodge the roof of snow gathered on his hair. Now recognizing him as Leon, Duke stopped barking.

"Really?" He replied, glaring at Tifa, "I hadn't noticed."

The snow only made Cloud, the other snow figure, look more white in the head, starkly contrasting Leon's darker hair. Cid laughed and pointed at them both.

"You two look like matchin' salt and pepper shakers."

Leon just gave him that same flat look and Cloud started dusting the snow off of his person more vehemently.

"We hit all of the sidewalks and the entire Marketplace. It would have to snow four feet to freeze through that." Cloud said.

Merlin shot Cid a contemptuous look and began to magically dust the snow off the floor. Cid just chuckled and propped his feet up on the table, looking to Leon. "Security System still running?"

"From what I could see." Leon said, putting the shovels away. "But if that crashes, YOU are going down to Ansem's office to fix it."

"Like Hell." Cid snorted, noticing how red both men's ears, noses, and cheeks were from the cold and the wind. "Sit down before you fall down."

Leon slumped into another chair at the table, rubbing at his face to get the blood back into the skin. Cloud made no motion to get comfortable, lingering awkwardly near the door. Aerith laughed.

"You can sit down or something. They won't bite." She grinned.

Duke made a low noise in her throat.

Cid snorted, "Well, most of them won't."

Cloud gave Cid a flat look. "I need to get going."

"Storm's only gonna get worse." Cid remarked with a shrug.

Tifa said nothing, but Aerith was nodding in agreement.

"Whatever you have to do, it can wait until tomorrow." She said, hands clasped behind her back as she teased him.

Cid doubted it. He didn't know Cloud well, but he knew how a mind like his worked. Get it done, get it done quickly, get it done alone. Like a twisted martyr. But Cid knew what Cloud's cause was—Hell, anybody with an ear had heard about it—and he didn't like it.

But, if Aerith's puppy eyes couldn't stop him, Cid doubted anything would.

He looked between Leon and Cloud and glanced back at Tifa. "How about a round?"

**..:-X-:..**

"_Three kids, huh?" The woman poured Cid another shot, as well as one for herself. "Gotta be hard."_

_He grunted, taking the drink and staring at it. "Yeah." He muttered vaguely._

_She threw back her own shot, humming lightly as it burned down the pipe. "Sorry."_

_He looked at her, "Why?"_

_She gave a light shrug, plucking up a peanut from the bowl on the counter. "Guy your age should be living it up, making dumb decisions, sow your wild oats, what have you."_

_Cid gave her a lopsided grin, "And you should still be in college."_

"_Oh, a flatterer." She cracked open the peanut and popped it in her mouth. "So what's a young oldie like yourself doing chatting up my bar when you've got three rugrats at home?"_

_He listened to the low droll version of Auld Lang Syne as it drifted out of the speakers. "One rugrat." He downed a third shot. "Two nearly grown."_

_Her eyebrows lifted, "Then you look good for your age."_

_Cid had gotten used to that surprised look that a 32 year old would have grown kids in these past few months. The explanation, however, was still too fresh to adjust to._

"_They were the only ones that I…could get out…before…" He gave a little arm gesture._

"_Ah." She said in realization. "So they're not your children by blood, but you're related by trauma."_

_Cid just grunted at that. Trauma…there was a word for it. She wordlessly offered to pour another shot, but he shook his head. His days of drinking away his problems and falling asleep on the couch were long gone, now that he knew he would wake up to Yuffie drawing on his face with markers and Aerith giving him the disapproving silence. Squall never gave him crap about drinking, but then again, the kid hadn't talked much anyway since declaring his name was Leon._

"_I'm sorry." She was taking his silence as offense that she'd pried. "None of my business."_

"_No, no." He waved her off. "Just…lost in thought."_

_She tutted and poured him another shot. "On the house."_

_He grunted and took the shot. "What about you?" He looked over the glass at her. "Since we're prying."_

_She gave him a coy look and then picked up another peanut. "Do I look like I've had kids?"_

_Cid brazenly gave her figure a thorough once-over. "Decidedly not."_

"_And I don't do back stories." She cracked the peanut and ate it. "There, I just saved you an hour of torturous tales of my sad history and beguiling."_

_He smirked, looking around the bar, "You seen a blond kid, late teens, sorta awkward fella?"_

_She brushed the peanut shells from the counter to the floor. "You into blonds?"_

"_A friend of the kids I got out." He replied. "One of them in particular is about to climb the walls worryin' about him. Ain't seen hide nor hair since the escape."_

_She paused, licked her lips, and turned her head slightly. "This is a bar, buddy. We don't see a lot of teenagers."_

_Cid squinted, "Right."_

_She chuckled and went to tend to another customer who'd dragged his sorry self to the counter. Cid didn't drink the latest shot she'd poured for him. He was feeling the previous ones already, and he still had to get home at some decent hour. Yuffie would be too preoccupied by the shiny baubles that Aerith had gathered for Christmas to notice he was gone. Aerith would notice, but be too preoccupied by Yuffie's energy to cause a fuss. Squall—Leon—probably wasn't even home._

_He was starting to worry about that kid._

"_Shame to waste this song." She had returned._

"_Other guy not quite as pathetic?" Cid glanced down the bar._

"_No, he's just as pathetic as you," She teased, "Just not as interesting."_

_Cid sighed, "I'd give anything not to be." He looked at her. "I should get going."_

"_Whatever it is, it can wait for another song." She gestured to the other barkeep at the opposite end of the counter. "I've been listening to sob stories and looking at long faces all night. I want a dance and you're the only one still sober enough to give it to me." She hopped over the bar. "So don't be a curmudgeon."_

_Cid looked at her, glanced at the clock on the wall, and let her drag him to his feet. "Well, maybe one song."_

**..:-X-:..**

Merlin made a disapproving noise as Tifa smirked, pulling the stash out from under the sink counter to mix a few drinks. While Aerith didn't look quite approving either, she held her tongue likewise. Cloud looked reluctant, probably not really seeing the point in lingering.

Duke keened as one of Merlin's enchanted chairs nudged forward, tired of taking the abuse of the dog's batting paws. The canine bounced backward, head down, rear in the air, tail flapping, play in her eyes. She barked a few times, loudly. Cid grimaced.

"Ah," Leon pointed at the dog. "Cut that out."

She looked over at his voice, ears perked, and promptly ignored him, returning her attention to the chair. Tifa poured two drinks and looked to Cloud, as if for confirmation. The blond had a deer in the headlights expression for a moment.

"They won't leave you alone until you cave." Leon said, not opening his eyes as he massaged his temples at the table. "Might as well be drunk while they bug you."

Cid laughed and looked to Cloud. "He's right."

Merlin huffed, enchanting the dishes to wash themselves while Tifa poured another two drinks and set them on the table. Cid took his up and lifted the glass.

"To a Merry Christmas." He took a long drink of it.

Leon just snorted and Cloud gave an awkward little shrug, holding the glass just to have something in his hands.

"Now, don't you be a holiday curmudgeon too." Tifa remarked smartly.

"Too?" Cid looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Tifa grinned, sidling up behind where Leon was sitting, face still in his hands. She abruptly cupped her palms around his red, frozen ears. He gave no physical response to that beyond lowering his hands enough for them to see his eyes.

Aerith smirked, "Leon, were you a curmudgeon?"

He looked at her flatly for a moment. "What?"

Tifa dropped her hands from his ears and draped her arms over his shoulders, a casual embrace from behind. It was a daringly playful gesture that took Cid off guard for a moment. Leon didn't look nearly as surprised at the hug, but he didn't respond to the curmudgeon comment either.

"Are you kidding? Compared to previous years, he's been practically Santa Claus." Cid laughed to break the sudden awkward surprise at Tifa's gesture that the other two had been locked in.

Cloud started drinking then, but Aerith smiled. "That's true."

Merlin put away his wand, letting the spell work itself, and looked to Cid. "You say it like you're surprised."

"I am." Cid laughed, taking another swallow from his drink and setting the glass down.

"Thanks." Leon grunted, still not drinking from his glass as he watched Duke terrorize the furniture.

Cid chuckled at the younger man's expense and looked to the window, where the snow was still falling. "You sure you two hit everything out there?"

Cloud and Leon's identical deadpan expressions were interrupted as, with a scuffle and a thud, Yuffie rolled over off the couch and landed on the floor. The group en masse looked over at her as the young ninja fought with the blanket that Aerith had draped over her. She grunted, disentangling herself, and rolled to her knees, facing them.

"What'd I miss?" She said, voice thick with sleep, hair sticking up on one side.

"Nothing." Aerith said to quickly cut off any smart remark Cid was preparing. "You should go to sleep."

"WAS asleep." Yuffie mumbled, getting to her feet.

Duke abandoned the fidgeting furniture in favor and darting around Aerith's legs and then under the table, her tail slapping against Cid's knee a few times. The younger girl looked like she could possibly still be asleep, looking at them all through half lidded eyes. Duke keened and Leon reached under the table, absently scratching her ears.

Merlin chortled at her. "I think she means in your own room."

"Not tired." Yuffie replied with a jaw-splitting yawn that ended in a guttural noise.

The record player beside the couch began to skip and Tifa went to fix it. Aerith shooed Yuffie toward the stairs. She huffed, but didn't need much encouragement as she turned and lumbered up the stairs.

Under the table, Duke growled. Cloud backed up a step, finishing off his drink. Aerith laughed at him. Cid sat back, seeing Leon's hand on the dog's shoulder, and he thought he heard the other man mutter: 'good dog'.

**..:-X-:..**

_None of the small crowd in the tavern looked up from their poison as Cid and the bartender started dancing slowly to the slightly-staticked song on the speakers._

"For auld lang syne, my dear. For auld lang syne…"

"_Such a stuffy song." She was saying. "Makes me think of that old movie about bells ringing and angels getting wings."_

"_What?" Cid chuckled, having never heard of such a movie._

_She had one arm draped over his shoulder, holding his hand with her other. "Nevermind."_

_He hadn't danced with a woman since before the attack. A few years before the attack, actually. Wasn't really his forte. She didn't seem to mind his two left feet, however, and they turned in slow circles._

"_So what are your plans?" She asked as they swiveled._

"_For what?" He replied._

"_The future, of course." She said. "What will you do now?"_

_It was an odd question. He frowned in thought._

"_Well, my ship survived the escape, for the most part. I guess I'd like to see what else is out there. One of the kids is pretty sure he will find a way to destroy the Heartless and restore our home."_

"_Oh, only the Keyblade can do that." She said._

"_The what?"_

_She smirked and moved her arm from his shoulder, stretching out and holding his hand. She did a little twirl and rolled back up close to him. "The mythical key sword that unlocks the heart of the worlds. The weapon against the Heartless."_

"_It's real?"_

"_I thought we were dancing." She said, setting her cheek on his shoulder._

"_You brought it up." They stopped dancing._

"_Okay, pilot," She lifted her face to look at him. "What do you want to know?"_

_The song continued to fill the tavern._

**..:-X-:..**

"Oh, I don't want to be the party pooper, kids," Merlin said, yawning, "But it's past this old man's bed time."

As he said his goodnights and went upstairs, Leon sat back, stretching. Cloud still looked antsy, and Aerith sighed, walking over to him.

"What are you so eager to leave for? It's Christmas. One day a year to spend with friends and loved ones and NOT stress out and all that other stuff you do." She said, only half teasing now.

Tifa snorted, her back turned to them as she was flipping through the vinyl records now. Cid noticed she hadn't been outright cold to Cloud since their falling out last year. They were definitely not as close as they had been, but whatever resentment she had been holding toward him, at least it looked like she had gotten over it.

Leon and Cloud had never truly gotten along. They more avoided each other than anything. As long as they got along when something important was on the line, Cid didn't really care. But he couldn't ignore this emerging quadrilateral of drama that was ballooning up in the Restoration Committee.

Tifa and Cloud used to be friends, best friends if Cid used such fluffy words, but between his secrets and her desire to know those secrets, things had gotten tense. Then, as Cloud and Aerith had grown closer, Cloud and Tifa had grown more distant. After the big fight last Christmas, which Cid had only heard through the plastic around Merlin's house, Tifa and Cloud seemed to have reached an impasse.

Cid was likely to never hear the end of it from Aerith, who had taken it upon herself to bring her two friends back to getting along. Cid wasn't sure she entirely saw the problem, but he wasn't going to bring it up. None of his business anyway.

Then things went quiet. The kind of quiet that made you paranoid.

He, Merlin, Yuffie, and Leon had managed to remain carefully neutral in the whole triangle. Yuffie always pried, but when blow came to blow, she was just as quick as the others to get the Hell outta dodge. Anyway, Tifa didn't talk about it. Not out of a sense of discomfort or anger, Cid noted, but she just didn't seem interested in hating Cloud anymore.

Duke snuck out from under the table and trotter over to Tifa, who had selected a record and slipped it into the player under the needle. Leon stood, stretched again, and put the drinks away. Aerith was looking at Cloud for an answer.

That deer in the headlights expression again.

"The storm is getting bad." He said, as though admitting defeat.

Aerith lit up at the small admission, however. "Yes it is." When Cloud didn't say anything further, she prompted him. "Can we talk?"

Cid abruptly reached out and took Leon's untouched drink. If these two were going to revive that soap opera, he at least wanted to be too drunk to pay attention. He didn't have Leon's ability to completely ignore people with a simple turn of the back, which he was avidly employing at the moment.

"About what?" Cloud awkwardly asked.

Tifa had sat down on the couch next to the record player, and Cid envied her spot across the room from these two as the more mellow sounding, accented solo of Auld Lang Syne began to drift out of the speaker, accompanied by a single guitar background.

Fortunately, Aerith knew how much Cid disliked big emotional conversations on display, if that's what this was going to turn into, and she was speaking quietly to the blond. Well, he didn't want them to be uncomfortable on his account. He stood.

"Well, Happy Christmas, Merry Holidays, and all that ho hum." He finished the drink and set the glass near the sink. "I think I'll turn in for the night."

"It stopped snowing." Leon abruptly said, looking toward the window.

Cloud followed his gaze, seeing an escape, no doubt. Aerith's face seemed to fall at the same time.

"It's probably already starting to freeze over." Cid said. "Merlin's got plenty of guest rooms if you wanna wait it out."

Because, as much as emotional conversations were annoying, Aerith deserved some answers after Cloud's incessant disappearances. But it looked like Cloud's fight or flight mechanism was leaning towards flight. Well, flight from Aerith, fight toward that…darkness or whatever he felt compelled to chase.

"If the storm gets worse tonight, I should take advantage of this window." Cloud said. "I should go."

Cid saw the lightning flash behind Aerith's eyes, but she relented. "If you're sure."

Cloud looked anything but, however, he replied. "Yeah, I think so."

He sounded apologetic, and Aerith offered a small smile. "We'll talk later?"

As Cloud left, Cid poured another drink and offered it to the woman.

**..:-X-:..**

"_And this talking mouse is the king of the entire world?" Cid asked as the two sat at one of the bussed tables._

_She nodded, "He can use the Keyblade, but he doesn't think the Heartless are that big of a threat yet. He doesn't know they're taking whole worlds."_

"_Well, someone should open his eyes."_

"_Yeah? Who? You? The pilot who's only flown once?" She chuckled throatily._

"_I've flown a thousand times." He remarked gruffly._

"_In the air, sure, but the void of space is a new animal. I'm sure you've realized that." She teased. "Besides, you want to wage a war against the darkness itself while toting around three padawans?"_

_Cid didn't bother asking what pida—pawa—things were. "I'm not. I just don't want to sit around in Traverse Town when something can be done."_

_She exhaled, suddenly looking much older than the perky barkeep she had been for the past few hours. "Then raise those kids. Keep them sane; they might keep you sane."_

_He snorted ruefully. "What do I know about being a parent? I'm barely an adult myself."_

"_Then pretend." She chuckled, "God knows, no one who's had a kid knows how to raise them. You learn along the way." She leaned in, "That's what they all tell me anyway. I can't even keep a pet fish."_

_Cid shook his head, "I better get back to pretending then. They've got to be wondering where I am." He stood. "Thanks for the drinks."_

"_And the dance?"_

"_And the dance."_

"_And the soulful advice."_

"…_I dunno about that."_

"_The kiss then."_

"_What ki—"_

_She reached out, her hand dropping at his collar. She playfully tugged him forward and pressed a firm kiss directly on his lips._

**..:-X-:..**

Aerith sat on the couch after Cloud left, looking crest fallen, but also slightly relieved. That seemed oxymoronic to Cid, but he didn't want to poke the bear when it had just settled down.

Leon was oblivious about how he'd opened that escape chute, and had pinned Duke between his legs, plucking the tinsel from her fur while the dog tried to lick his face off.

Tifa loitered by the couch beside Aerith for a moment, shifting from foot to foot, and, unable to take the awkwardness left in Cloud's wake, looked to Leon.

"Dance with me."

Leon snorted and looked up from Duke's fur, where his smirk flattened, "What?"

"I want to dance." She said, hands on her hips.

Cid chuckled and went to sit beside Aerith. She looked tired from planning the party and worn out from participating in the party, not to mention drained from dealing with Cloud. She so desperately wanted to make whatever they had between them work. He guessed Cloud did too, in his own Cloud way. You'd think when two people both worked so hard at something, that they'd eventually meet in the middle.

Dammit, now HE was getting involved.

Ah, he'd drank enough tonight that he didn't mind.

"Dance with Cid." Leon gave a vague gesture.

Cid guffawed, sitting down beside Aerith on the couch. "Don't look at me. I'm drunk."

Here's where that triangle became the quadrilateral, he noted inwardly.

The tree, bedecked from top to bottom in colorful, glittering ornaments and twinkling lights, gave the entire room a warm, cozy glow. The old fireplace wasn't lit, but it wasn't necessary anyway.

Tifa had that kind of coy look that only came from running a bar for several years as she sauntered across the room and nonchalantly walked up to Leon. Duke's tail wagged as her ears lifted, tongue lolling as Leon stopped his attempt to de-tinsel her.

"I've been dealing with Cloud's angst and Merlin and Cid's arguing all night. I want to dance and apparently," She glared playfully at Cid, who shrugged. "you're the only one still sober enough to give it to me." She poked his forehead. "So stop being a curmudgeon and dance with me."

The song was winding down on the player and Aerith grinned, reaching over and tugging the needle back over to start the song anew. Cid had to admit, this version of the classic was relaxing. One singer. One guitar. Nothing fancy.

Leon cast both Aerith and Cid an expression that said 'thanks for nothing', and let Tifa goad him to his feet. Duke weaved around their legs and then padded over to the couch, sitting on the floor at Cid's feet.

"This oughta be entertaining." Cid said quietly to Aerith.

Aerith tilted her head, "Leon can actually dance, you know."

"No, I wouldn't know." Cid propped his feet up on the coffee table. "How do you?"

"I got him to dance with me before." She said, straightening her shoulders proudly.

As she should feel proud, getting the old stick in the mud to do anything not work-related was like pulling teeth…though he'd just folded for Tifa easily enough.

"_We'll take a cup o'kindness yet, for days of auld lang syne…"_

Duke yawned, pink tongue lolling, and promptly curled into a ball beside the couch on the floor. Aerith chuckled and patted the dog on the head.

"They've got it easy." She said, almost whispered.

Cid wasn't sure if he'd been meant to hear that, if she was just talking to herself, but he sat back in the couch and tweaked the toothpick in his mouth. "Define easy."

Tifa looked eager enough to just pull Leon out onto the floor and start dancing, but Leon patiently stood her there and then took her hand. Cid was surprised to see that the younger man did seem to know what he was doing, wordlessly taking Tifa's waist and sliding into a simple dance with her to the record's playing.

"I'll be damned." Cid pulled a cigarette from his pack and swapped it for his toothpick, digging out his lighter.

Aerith was either too tired or too distracted to show disapproval for the habit. Cid lit his cigarette and puffed on it quietly, listening to the song and watching the two dance. Well, it looked more like two people just swiveling in a circle holding each other but…ah, Hell, wasn't that all dancing was to begin with?

It was odd and amusing to see and hear Leon with a little more spunk lately, talking more and loosening up, even if it was only with Tifa. The way they talked and spent each other's company, Cid could sort of see why Aerith was advocating the 'together' conundrum.

Then again, he'd never been good with such things. So what did he know?

**..:-X-:..**

_The kiss was warm but brief, and it was only that. A kiss. It was the most action he'd seen in months, so he was slightly disappointed when she withdrew first._

"_Sorry." The apology didn't match the mischievous little grin on her lips. "You just looked so rugged and helpless…Couldn't help myself. Lost puppies and all."_

"_Oh, never apologize for a kiss." Cid winked._

"_Still…nothing more appealing than an unavailable man." She said playfully._

"_I'm not married." He shrugged._

"_Doesn't mean you're available." She said. "Not sure you even want to be."_

_Cid exhaled. "I don't think I could handle you."_

"_Not sure I want you to." She smirked, standing. "My shift ends in half an hour."_

_It was an invitation._

_Cid pursed his lips against a smile and gave a small shake of the head painfully. "Sorry."_

"_Kids, right." She squinted, smacking herself in the forehead. "Forgot."_

"_No, it's not that. I mean, it is, but…" He shrugged. "Bad timing."_

"_Well, pilot." She offered a hand. "Your loss." She winked._

_He smirked and took her hand, shaking it. "Likewise."_

"_Ah, get out of here, you smooth talker." She shoved his shoulder. "And good luck in your crusade against the Dark Ones!" She declared._

"_Yeah, yeah." Cid stood as well, turning toward the door. He had pushed the swinging glass open when she called over._

"_Hey, pilot!"_

_He looked back at her. "What?"_

"_If you're looking for work…I mean…the old accessory shop in the First District is looking for someone." She offered. "I could put a good word in for you."_

"_Not sticking around, remember?" Cid said. " 'Sides, I couldn't sell ice cream in a heat wave."_

_She smiled, "Well, I'll put in a good word anyway. If all else fails, you can put one of those kids to work."_

_Cid shook his head, "See you around—Hey, what's your name?"_

"_Why?" She blinked, "You're bound for bigger and better places, remember?"_

"_Well, if I stop by again—"_

"_You won't." She said knowingly. "But it's a nice gesture, pilot."_

"_Fine, what if someone asks me if I know that weirdo who runs the Traverse Town Tavern?" He teased._

"_You can tell them you have no idea and be spared the torture." She replied with a wry grin._

_He smiled and opened the front door. "Well, thanks for the drinks anyway."_

"_And the dance."_

"_And the dance."_

"_And the advice."_

_He chuckled, "And the advice."_

"_And the kiss."_

"_That too."_

_She smiled, "Thanks for the chat."_

"_My pleasure." He tipped his invisible hat to her._

"_Merry Christmas, pilot."_

"_You too…weirdo."_

_Her laughter shooed him out the door, and the snow greeted Cid as he hunched his shoulders against it, aiming his shoes in the direction of the house where Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie were waiting for him. Suddenly inspired, he stopped by the store on the way home and bought a cake for them. _

_It was Christmas after all._

**..:-X-:..**

"_But we've wandered many a weary fit, since days of auld lang syne…"_

"Funny thing about snow." Cid said quietly to Aerith, who had been watching the tree twinkle in the dim light. "It's cold and wet and dangerous when it freezes…but it's consistently like that."

"Hm." Aerith said, half listening.

He took a long drag from his cigarette, looking over to Leon and Tifa, who were both talking quietly as they slowly danced to the song. Tifa was smiling, and Leon appeared to be leading the conversation. Cid couldn't decide if those two were actually 'together' together, or still beating around that bush. Didn't matter, he supposed.

"But…you still love the snow." He went on. "No matter how annoying and dangerous and…awkward it can be. Right?"

Aerith blinked, looking away from the tree, though not directly at him. "Yes."

"And when the snow lands on your nose or your face, you kinda feel like it's fond of you too, right?" He said.

Metaphors were never his strong suit. He thought they were better left to wordy types like Merlin, but the old sorcerer had gone to bed, and he wasn't going to interrupt Tifa to doll out some womanly advice to Aerith. Neither female probably would have appreciated that anyway, he figured.

Aerith was softly smiling. "You think so?"

"I mean…I've seen my share of snow." He frowned, unsure where he was going with this. "It's pretty consistent."

Where the Hell was he going with this?

"I think you're right." She said, hugging her knees. "It always comes back."

Oh thank God, she was going with it, he felt a mild relief.

He reached up, shifting a book from the shelf and tugging his stash of Jack out from behind the old book. Lowering it to his knee, he uncorked it and took a sniff of the dark whiskey inside the bottle.

"Whew." He wheezed. "Any takers?" He took a swig and offered it to Aerith.

She had glanced over to the other two to see Leon tilting his head and Tifa closing her eyes. It was a short kiss, followed by a longer, slower kiss. Cid followed Aerith's gaze, saw the display, and took another drink.

"About time." He muttered.

Aerith smiled softly as the two seemed to have forgotten their friends on the couch. They had stopped dancing as well, just standing there…rubbing it in Aerith and Cid's faces.

"Yeah…" Aerith was saying, sounding wistful.

Cid let the kiss go uninterrupted for a while before clearing his throat. "Hey, get a room if you're gonna keep that mess up."

Tifa laughed as she withdrew from the kiss and Leon rolled his eyes.

"Sorry." Tifa chuckled, eyes brighter than he'd seen in a year.

Cid lifted his whiskey bottle, "Never apologize for a kiss."

Leon looked like he was fighting a smile. Tifa wasn't fighting hers.

Well, at least they kept themselves sane.

Aerith looked both happy and envious at the same time. Her smile was meek as she looked to Cid. "I think I might take that drink after all."

"Atta girl." Cid handed her the bottle. "The holiday spirit demands it."

He glanced toward the window, where it had started snowing again. Consistent. Aerith saw it took and grinned as she took a tentative sip from the bottle, nearly choking in the process.

The song was winding down again, and Cid reached over, flicking the needle back to the starting position. He winked at Leon, giving him a thumb up. Leon looked a little embarrassed, but Tifa pulled him out of it and back into the same simple dance all over again. He didn't seem to mind.

If they were a pair, they were an odd pair. If not, they were just odd.

Cid grinned, tossing his cigarette into the dark fireplace. Even if he still had no idea what he was doing, maybe he was a good enough pretender that no one noticed.

"_Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and days of auld lang syne?"_

"What does this song mean?" Aerith asked with a small hiccup.

Cid snorted, lighting a fresh cigarette, "I have no idea."

**..:-X-:..**

**A/N:** Shameless plugging of some earlier oneshots of mine: _Dante's Tenth Circle_ again and _Whence We Came_, though less directly. Probably a few more that I'm forgetting. Thought I should mention them, in case there were loopholes in here that I missed…I apologize, but I just didn't have the energy to proofread this after I finished it. Enjoy any misspellings.

Happy Holidays!


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